ESPN’s Sean McDonough Speaks on His Charity Golf Tournament – The Hockey Writers –

ESPN hockey analyst Sean McDonough recently hosted a charity golf tournament in support of Cardiac Amyloidosis, a relatively rare and somewhat unheard-of illness. The tournament is a yearly event held in Boston to help raise money for a condition that Sean’s father and longtime Boston sports writer Will McDonough unfortunately died from. “Some of the top hospitals in Boston could not figure out what was wrong with him,” said Sean McDonough.

The tournament helps support the research being done by Dr. Rodney Falk and his team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and their goal is to help find medicine for this condition. It saw the likes of Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin, and ESPN’s John Buccigross come out and show their support along with celebrities like Bill Murray and Charles Barkley. The tournament raised approximately $757,000 this year alone and has raised over $3 million since 2018. This condition is unfortunately unheard of to most people, so what is it?

What Is Cardiac Amyloidosis?

Cardiac Amyloidosis is a condition caused by deposits of an irregular protein known as Amyloid that exists in the heart tissue. These irregularities make it difficult for the heart muscle to work properly. With those problems arising, the amyloid may affect the way electrical signals move throughout the heart. This can potentially lead to irregular heart rhythms and abnormal heart signals. Cardiac Amyloidosis can be inherited by family members. It can also arise from other diseases such as bone and/or blood cancer. The condition is rare in people under the age of 40 and is more commonly found in men than it is in women.

With Cardiac Amyloidosis not being a well-known condition to the public, several people find out that they have it very late in their illness. In Sean’s case, he and his family found out by the time it was too late. On the day that Will McDonough passed, he had a stress test and was told by doctors that he was getting healthier from his heart problems and that he could ease back into activities. Will died shortly after that appointment. “Doctors were shocked and devastated when my dad died,” said McDonough. “So they asked us if we would agree to an autopsy because they really wanted to find out what happened and when they did the…